Relationship

Independents take the crown back on relationship building, as Richard admits that jumping between branch to branch and person to person can make it difficult to form a connection with customers.

Andy: “People know my name. I know exactly what to do and I know the bike. It’s a much more personal service.

“I’ve seen the children grow. I’ve sold children bikes and gone on to sell them adult bikes.

“I really care about the bike – I treat it like it’s my own. The chain store would never remember that bike.

“Supporting your local bike shop is supporting your local community. We’re giving wages to people in the area, who are giving it back to the area.”

Richard: “We do create relationships with customers but it’s more difficult for a chain to keep customers. They might see one person one day and another person the next.”

Reputation

Part of the relationship with a bike shop is the trust you have in them, which can be bolstered by their reputation.

Andy: “The amount of times people have taken their bike into a multiple and told it was beyond repair. They’re upselling – they’re under a lot of pressure to sell.

“And there are so many times people have come in from other bike shops because the service has not been up to scratch.

“We had one guy who lives in the city and took his bike to a multiple as his front wheel was quite wobbly. They fixed it for £250, saying that they had changed the axle. A couple of days later the wheel came loose and we checked it – there was no new axle and bearings.

“Lives are at risk here – I don’t know how they can get away with it.”

Richard: “It’s easier being a well-known brand as people trust us to provide a good service.”

Just bear in mind that the experiences you have in-store may vary quite a bit, even between different branches of the same shop. Take a look at reviews before you visit.

What to look for in your next service

Whether you opt for an independent or a chain, it’s wise to take these other factors into account too.

Think about the location of the shop you want to take your bike to. Is it in a convenient enough location to pick it up as well as take it in? Check how long the service is expected to take and if you’ll get it back in time for the Monday morning commute.

Compare what’s in the services themselves. Shops will generally have three levels of service – a tune-up, general and full service.

Some places will do a free on-the-spot health checks to pinpoint any minor niggles while some may offer advanced servicing which includes everything in the full package, plus a couple of extras.

Comments

I also use an independent who visits in a van to work. Well, I will from now on. I rang one of the large chains asking for a quote for a certain part to be sourced and fitted. It was going to be near £100 for that work.

I then rang the independent, who will not only source the part, but come to the building to fit it as part of their regular visit schedule. It will be around £35.

I always tend to go for independents as trying to get a quick fix at a chain store is impossible. You’ll be waiting a week just to book it in, especially in central London if you had an issue once you’d got to work. Whereas nearly ever independent store I’ve taken a repair to have been able to do it on the day or the next.

I went to an independent to check my new second hand bike bought on eBay. It turned out it hadn’t been used much according to the independent shop guy but he’d check the breaks cables in case they are dry with rust.. Anyway, when I came back all he did was add some oil to chain and cogs at a total cost of £40. That’s a lot for a bit of oil! Wheels, breaks, chain etc were all fine… Sounds like a rip off to me. Next time I’ll go to Halfords for a free check before agreeing on further work with breakdown of cost beforehand. Sounds like a better deal to me!!